Happy 30th birthday to the Observatory at the Roque de Los Muchachos! The official inauguration was in 1985, attended by the royalty from Denmark, Holland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and heads of state of Germany and Ireland. At that time there were only six telescopes on La Palma; now there are 17 of them. To celebrate, the Canarian Astrophysics Institute has a free exhibition in Santa Cruz…
From 25th September 2015 to October 9th, the island of La Palma in the Canaries will host Astrofest, a festival of astronomy, with activities for all ages and knowledge levels. There will be an international conference for astrotourism professionals, a spectacular total eclipse of the moon, an international conference for nightscape photographers, and a night photography masterclass. You can find more details and register for all these events at…
I’ve missed a lot of the Bajada one way and another, but we did get to the “God Save the Queen” concert last night. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re a Queen tribute group. We weren’t sure how good they were, but we bought tickets on the assuption that there’s a huge gap between “As good as the original Queen” and “Worth 15€.” Are they as good as…
Seeing the dwarves dance in the street is a very different experience from seeing the paid performances. The singers and dancers are very tired, because they’ve been performing all night, and they’re covered in sweat. You’re much more immersed in the experience. Ont he other hand, it’s hard to get a clear view for photos. On the other hand, you’re much, much closer to them. Near the end, people…
Asteroid Day is the anniversary of the Tunguska event in 1908, when a huge asteroid exploded over Siberia. There will be a free public event on Tuesday 30th of June at 19:00 at Palacio Salazar in Santa Cruz de La Palma. SCHEDULE: 19:00 – Welcome & keynote lecture 19:10 – Talks given by astronomers Speakers: Elena Nordio (Ad Astra La Palma) Vania Lorenzi (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo) Massimo Cecconi (Telescopio…
It’s Fiesta de la Cruz again. I was really busy this year, so I just went for a quick look at Calle Rodriguez Lopez, the street in Santa Cruz where they have all the mayos. As always, it was fun. This year they had a theme of jobs and professions.